Donaldson: Vegas doesn’t believe in the Friars

Seton Hall has lost five of its last six games, and six of its last eight, but the Pirates (5-10 in the Big East) are favored by 3-to-4 points over Providence College (8-7 in conference play) tonight in Newark.

Comment

By
Jim Donaldson
Posted Feb. 28, 2014 @ 9:53 am

Seton Hall has lost five of its last six games, and six of its last eight, but the Pirates (5-10 in the Big East) are favored by 3-to-4 points over Providence College (8-7 in conference play) tonight in Newark.

The Piratesí lone recent win was a solid, 82-67,† homecourt victory over Georgetown on Feb. 20.

And they have had a demoralizing array of 1-point losses this season ó two to St. Johnís, another at Marquette, and, most recently, a 72-71 setback Sunday at Creighton.

Clearly, the Pirates can play with anybody.

They also beat the Friars in double-overtime, 81-80, in Providence in the conference opener for both teams, on Dec. 31.

All of which makes it understandable why Seton Hall is favored tonight, even though PC has road wins at DePaul ó where the Pirates lost Tuesday, 65-60, St. Johnís, and, just last Sunday, Butler.

Itís worth noting that one of Butlerís two conference victories came at Seton Hall on Jan. 29, 64-57, so the Pirates have lost to the only two teams below them in the standings ó the Bulldogs and DePaul.

The Friars were slight underdogs against Butler in Indianapolis, where they prevailed, 87-81, by shooting a torrid 66.7 percent from the floor (28 of 42), making a dazzling 13 of 20 (65 percent) 3-point shots.